Independent Filmmaking in China: The Age of Dissent

Evan Osnos’s post today about the newly intensified suppression of dissent in China comes, sadly, as no surprise for viewers of Chinese movies. Even if there isn’t anything made in the past few weeks to show the news from the street, the attitude of the Chinese government toward those citizens who seek democratic representation and basic human rights is apparent from such recent documentaries as “Fengming,” “Petition,” and “I Wish I Knew,” as well as from dramatic feature films (such as the daring works of Ying Liang, including “The Other Half”). Well, here’s news from Kevin Lee, of dGenerate Films, the maven and indefatigable herald of independent Chinese cinema, regarding the state, or fate, of cinema in this moment of tightening screws. In his post this week about a recent Chinese documentary, “Karamay” (which I haven’t seen) and the responses to Chinese citizens to it, Kevin quotes the independent producer Zhu Rikun: “Compared to other kinds of political activities, independent filmmaking is not as risky.” But he adds,

However, since Zhu Rikun made these comments in February, new obstacles have emerged for independent filmmaking in China, as several websites related to independent film have been shut down, such as the websites for Fanhall Films, the Li Xianting Film Fund and Yunnan Film Festival.

It’s noteworthy that the government has shut these Web sites down but not—at least yet—the festivals. This seems indicative of the role of independent filmmaking in China: not widely disseminated, therefore no real threat. Whereas Web sites describing films that record government abuses of power and resistance to it have a far greater reach than the films themselves. In 2006, China banned the director Lou Ye from filmmaking for five years (he made a remarkable film, “Summer Palace,” that dealt directly with the 1989 massacre of student protesters in Tiananmen Square), yet he has nonetheless been able to continue working. (His “Spring Fever” was released here this year.) It remains to be seen whether even such slim margins of tolerance will remain for Chinese filmmakers in the current political climate.

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As the years passed, Tom grew more entrenched in his homelessness. He was absorbed in lofty fantasies and private missions, aware of the basest necessities and the most transcendent abstractions, and almost nothing in between.